The Birth

People have been asking me what it was like giving birth in Holland, especially given that painkillers are not a normal part of the procedure here. Here is what I’ve told a few people recently:

1. “I decided early on in the pregnancy that I was going to trust the ‘Dutch’ way of doing things. Otherwise I would have driven myself crazy trying to compare the two systems.”

This was especially important during the last two weeks of my pregnancy. In the States, I would have been induced over a week before I delivered Rebecca. However, I never felt at risk; in fact, I felt very well taken care of.

2. “The nurses took really good care of us in the hospitals. They were extremely attentive and made sure both the baby and the mom were OK.”

Kudos to the nursing staff at Ziekenhuis Gelderse Vallei and the Utrecht Kinderziekenhuis!

My view of the delivery isn’t as rosy. I’m not really sure I’ve come to grips with it yet, actually. Part of trusting the system was trusting the midwives in helping me through the delivery. At 42 weeks 1 day, my midwife couldn’t be there during the delivery. Instead, the ob/gyns delivered Rebecca in a much more medicalized birth than I was anticipating.

Read on...